GR,
So you don't have the information either, is that correct?
The reason I direct you there is because whether you trust my information or not is irrelevant - you seek an official confirmation over my word and I merely directed you to a place where you might start to ask. I know what the response would be and it wouldn't give you an answer either. They will not give you actual aircraft performance unless your official capacity outwith this forum means you need to know - but, your post (#1092 refers!) tells me you don't because you were/are misinformed. Believe what you want, it's a free country.
Henra,
That said a specific problem of the F-35 compared to the SU appears to be zero-lift drag/transonic drag. That seems to be quite high and will negatively impact SEP and thus acceleration, climb and to some extent STR.
You've hit the nail squarely on the cranium.
Leon,
The take off roll of a Super Hornet at SL/ISA max weight is ~3700ft and ~1500ft at minimum weight - all within the capability of what was at Kandahar at the time. Putting in a temporary arrestor system can be done in a matter of hours.
Available rwy at Kandahar was, very frequently, reduced to 2500' or less for hours and hours at a time. That bit of concrete had more patchwork done to it than you'd care to know about as an aviator. A Super H at Kandahar (3300' elevation and +45C) would have needed way more than 3700' with a decent CAS load out and you'd have to be able to move that arrestor gear to a clear bit of runway to recover when another bit is trashed while you were airborne. Yes, I've flown both..